Echoes of Indiana Avenue

This week we’ll pay tribute to Jimmy Wormick, a legendary Naptown jazz trombonist. Wormick started his career on the Avenue, performing with the Indianapolis bandleader Chick Carter, and he later joined the famous Lionel Hampton Orchestra. During his career Wormick performed alongside some of the greatest names in American music, including Billie Holiday, Charles Mingus, Bing Crosby and others.

Enjoy an hour of words and music from the great Naptown jazz trumpeter Clifford Ratliff. Ratliff has been playing jazz in Indianapolis since the 1960s, and he’s recorded with some of the greatest legends of Indiana Avenue.

This week we’ll celebrate the life and music of Steve Odle, lead vocalist for the Indianapolis soul music group Words of Wisdom. Odle passed away last month at the age of 70. We'll listen back to an interview Odle recorded at WFYI in 2018, and we'll share music from an unreleased solo session Odle cut after the demise of Words of Wisdom. 

During the mid-20th Century, the fun on Indiana Avenue didn’t stop at closing time. After-hours clubs offered live music until the break of dawn. There was a catch: these clubs operated outside the limits of the law and were subject to police raids. Still, patrons packed after-hours clubs like The Sunset, The Missile Room, The Log Cabin Inn and The Frederick Douglass Social Club. Discover the hist...

Brother Jack McDuff is one of the most celebrated jazz organists in music history, but few music fans are aware of his deep connection to Naptown. This week we’ll celebrate McDuff’s work on the Avenue. We’ll share classic recordings he made with Avenue musicians and talk with some of the Naptown musicians who performed in his band. 

This week we'll celebrate the history of drag queens and trans performers on the Avenue. They were billed as female impersonators. Nearly every club on the Avenue featured them, and nearly every musician on the Avenue worked alongside these entertainers - from Slide Hampton, to Jimmy Coe. Enjoy rare recordings from female impersonators connected to the Avenue scene.

This week we’ll feature an hour of words and music as we preview the Indiana Juneteenth Freedom Music Festival. The festival features an all-star lineup of legendary Naptown bands including Ebony Rhythm Funk Campaign and Circle City Band. 

This week, we’ll continue our ongoing look at the use of Avenue music samples in hip-hop. The music of Indiana Avenue has been sampled by some of the biggest names in rap music, including Kanye West, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, and others. On this week’s show we’ll hear how contemporary stars like Doja Cat have used Avenue music in their work. 

This week we’ll look back at the Indianapolis Recorder’s “Dream Band” contest. During the 1940s and ‘50’s, the newspaper invited readers to vote for their favorite Naptown musicians, and the winning musicians were included in the Indianapolis Recorder’s “Dream Band." This provided many local musicians with their first taste of recognition including Wes Montgomery and Slide Hampton.

This week we explore torch songs – songs that lament an unrequited or lost loves. Diving into an hour of music from Aretta Bush, Helen “Fox” Walker, Everett Greene, Flo Garvin, The Ink Spots and more, we’ll take you on a tour of the smoke-filled clubs of Indiana Avenue famous for these sad, beautiful songs.

This week we’ll pay tribute to the late Naptown drummer Dewayne Garvin - better known as the “Funky Buzzard.” Garvin recorded with local legends like The Highlighters and Ebony Rhythm Funk Campaign, and performed with international stars like Marvin Gaye and Funkadelic.

Chicago’s Chess Records is known worldwide for releasing classic blues and rock and roll music from artists like Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Etta James, and Howlin’ Wolf. But it also recorded important musicians from Indiana Avenue, like Larry Liggett, The Teasers, and The Highlighters. This week we’ll listen to music from Avenue artists who recorded for Chess Records. 

David Williams has written several books that draw on his experiences growing up on Indiana Avenue, including “Indianapolis Jazz” and “Indianapolis Rhythm and Blues.” This week, David joins us to discuss his latest work “African-Americans in Indianapolis," which documents important moments in Indianapolis history - from the rise of Madame Walker, to the founding of Crispus Attucks High School.

We continue our tribute to guitarist Johnny Shacklett - one of the greatest living legends of the Naptown jazz scene. Shacklett rose to prominence during the 1950s. He played in many of the Avenue’s most famous clubs, and performed with many of the Avenue’s greatest musicians - including Wes Montgomery, The Hampton Family, Larry Ridley, and many others. 

Part one of our two-part tribute to guitarist Johnny Shacklett - one of the greatest living legends of the Naptown jazz scene. Shacklett rose to prominence during the 1950s, performing in the Avenue’s most famous clubs and with some of its greatest musicians. He'll share memories of working on the avenue and talk about the “Baraka”, a unique, four-neck guitar Johnny built during the late 1960s. 

This week we’ll look back at some of the forgotten legends of the Avenue. The artists we’ll be featuring may be unfamiliar to listeners today - but during their prime, they packed Avenue clubs, and garnered rave reviews in the local press. Enjoy an hour of music from artists including Step Wharton, Little Pico, Helen Fox, Slim Green, Milliard Lee and more.

This week we’ll celebrate the life and music of the late James "King Moses" Weeden, best known for his work with the psychedelic gospel music act King James Version. We’ll be joined by his brother Henry Hinch, who will share his memories of growing up with Weeden on Indiana Avenue. 

This week we wrap up our tribute to Ebony Rhythm Funk Campaign, one of the most important bands in Naptown music. Members of the group discuss their legacy as a band and what the future holds for the group. 

This week we continue our tribute to Ebony Rhythm Funk Campaign, one of the most important bands in Naptown music. Members from the group discuss how they relied on each other to survive both in the music industry and in life.

This week we begin a three-part tribute to Ebony Rhythm Funk Campaign, one of the most important bands in Naptown music. The group achieved their greatest success during the 1970s performing with some of the biggest stars in American music, including B.B. King, Earth, Wind, and Fire, and Jackie Wilson. Their recordings received serious airplay and appeared on Billboard’s R&B Hot 100 Chart. 

This week we’ll celebrate Women’s History Month with an hour of music featuring the blues women of Indiana Avenue. Blues music was one of the most popular forms of entertainment on the Avenue, and some of the earliest blues records ever made were recorded by Avenue women.

This week, we’ll celebrate Women’s History Month by looking back at our interviews with some of the legendary women of the Avenue, including Pam Davis, Charlotte Bailey, Josephine Cheatham-Manns, Gwen Robinson, Debbie Hyatte-Nelson, and Eunice Trotter. 

The blues legend Champion Jack Dupree was born in New Orleans in 1910, but he launched his career here in Naptown. From 1939 to 1943, Dupree lived and worked in Indianapolis, and he performed extensively on the Avenue. This week we’ll look back at Dupree’s work on the Avenue.

This week we’ll celebrate the music of Deek Watson, a founding member of The Ink Spots. Deek and his fellow Ink Spots were one of the most influential acts to emerge from the Avenue, and the only Indianapolis group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

This week, we'll pay tribute to the late Moe Whittemore. During the 1970s, Moe ran the 700 West record label and recording studio from his family’s home in New Palestine, IN. Moe recorded some of the Avenue’s most respected funk and soul musicians at 700 West, including The Vanguards, Amnesty, Ebony Rhythm Funk Campaign, and the Words of Wisdom, a group founded by host Herman "Butch" Slaughter.